Kate Bush: Musicians take a stand against impending AI theft

Over 1,000 musicians have joined forces to protest against planned changes to British copyright law. The UK government plans to make it easier for technology companies to train artificial intelligence using copyrighted works - without informing or compensating the authors.

Big names are among the artists protesting against this development. Kate Bush (66), Annie Lennox (70) and Cat Stevens (76) have taken part, as have the Pet Shop Boys, Damon Albarn (56) from Blur and the German film composer Hans Zimmer (67). They have released an album together.

"Will our voices go unheard in the music of the future?" asks Kate Bush in a statement from the initiative , according to media reports .

Protest with silent album

What is special about the protest: The artists have released an album that consists almost entirely of silence. Empty studios and concert halls were used for the recordings. Only occasionally can a quiet clatter or rustle be heard - a powerful symbol of what could happen if artists lose control of their works.

The title of the album is programmatic: "Is This What We Want?" The twelve tracks each have a single word as their title. When strung together, they form the sentence: "The British Government Must Not Legalise Music Theft To Benefit AI Companies."

Doubts about the effectiveness of the right of appeal

The planned law does provide that artists can exempt their works from AI use by actively objecting. But this is precisely where the protesters see a fundamental problem: How are artists supposed to keep track of which AI companies are using their works? How are they supposed to actively object to the multitude of providers?

The British government will again discuss the controversial copyright plans this Tuesday afternoon. The silent protest album was released specifically for this occasion.

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